- cross-posted to:
- forumlibre@jlai.lu
For the past few weeks I’ve been working on creating my own public radio station (it’s been a dream of mine since I was a kid). Well now it’s up and running but I don’t know what to do with it. So I thought I’d see what Lemmy thinks about the concept, before I go all in and start investing in licensing fees, better servers, and more listener capacity.
If you’re interested, we’ll need curators to add songs to the rotation when no DJ is on air. It’s simple and straightforward. Just click “Suggest” on the top right of the website and enter the Artist + Song Title on the form.
We will also need DJs and presenters to volunteer any freetime you’re willing to give up and help make this happen. Click “Join” to get started.
All styles and genres are welcome. Hop on the airwaves anytime you want. Take requests, or don’t. Mix and scratch, or just play one tune after another. Host a talk show/podcast if it suits you. Up to you. You can either use your own DJ/broadcasting software, otherwise there is a Web DJ interface for those with no software/experience.
https://radiolemmy.com | Temporary URL if the first one isn’t working
Click Join to sign up to be DJ/presenter, or Suggest to submit your own song suggestions for regular rotation (no signup required to suggest a tune).
FAQ for potential DJs
Lemmy Community: !radiolemmy@lemm.ee
Discord
EDIT: Thanks for all the song submissions so far! I’ve added them to the rotation. Feel free to suggest any tunes for removal as well.
EDIT 2: Looks like I’m going to have to upgrade web servers sooner than expected. If you’re having issues connecting, try the temporary URL
EDIT 3: Gonna take awhile to go through the applications. I’ll take care of as many as I can tonight. Check your inbox (and don’t forget the @ in your username when applying. I can’t reply if I don’t know what instance you’re using.)
EDIT 4: All DJ applications have been processed so far. Check your inboxes! Gonna spend the next few hours uploading more of your song suggestions. This takes awhile because I have to manually check every tune to make sure it’s suitable for airplay! Upon approval, your tune(s) will play at regular intervals. It may take a few hours for it to play for the first time. BTW, remember to use the “Submit” button. “Request” is for one time requests when a DJ is live. I’m brainstorming ideas on streamlining this so that the tune always goes to the right place.
EDIT 5: Well this blew up bigger than I could have hoped for. Gonna call it a night, but I’ll be back tomorrow to upload more of your suggestions!
Also I’m going to dust off the turntables and do a live show tomorrow @ 7-9pm EST (00:00-02:00 GMT, check the schedule on the website). Requests accepted. Catch you on the airwaves then!
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This is so cool!
This is a cool idea and I’ll be submitting some songs as soon as I’m back on my laptop.
But in the meantime, since this thread is full of people who apparently appreciate both internet radio and the Fediverse, you should check out https://radiofreefedi.net as well! Music from actual fellow Fedizens, it’s kind of great.
Damn, and here I thought I had an original idea. Maybe we should get together and do a collab! Their website could use some modernization.
You’re not wrong there! Yeah I didn’t mean to draw attention away from your thing, it sounds like a very different project so they’re not really competitors, just wanted to put it out there to support Fediverse artists :)
What’s the legal basis around this project? One can’t just hop on as a DJ and start broadcasting the newest Taylor Swift songs without getting DMCA’d, can they?
There is a system implemented that tracks every song played for licensing purposes. Anyone can jump on with their own music and I get sent the bill afterword. I’m more than happy to pay for the licensing fees for the time being. I’ll probably start begging for donations eventually.
How much is the fees per song?
“Works best in Firefox”
The entire internet works best in Firefox with the exception of some shitty big tech sites I guess.
Which is completely intentional.
I managed to get wifi on this long haul international flight and it sure made my whole 18 hour flight to hop in right as Ass-N-Titties was played. Gave me a great laugh, thanks for that person who suggested and you for allowing it 😂
This website is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
If I was a lawyer, I’d say that this sentence could be interpreted in a way that the audio stream is licensed as cc-by-nc-sa, too, i.e. you are sublicensing the songs to anybody. This is even more illegal than simply broadcasting music without licensing it. It’s a fun and games until RIAA comes to break your knee caps.
Good to know. I thought the “this website is licensed” part would cover it, but maybe I should just remove the license for now…
FWIW there is a system in place to track plays for music licensing purposes. I will be paying this out of pocket.
Definitely provide a visible way to accept donations. No reason you should have to pay for all the costs of running this completely on your own. It’s the fediverse, spreading the load is kinda the point!
Oh don’t worry, I will. I want to eventually implement a system where people can donate to their favorite DJs and the station gets a cut to help with operating fees. But I will need developers to help me with this. In the meantime I ask for nothing but your ears.
Make it so
Ngl sounds super interesting and I want to host something but idk what I’d even do.
You don’t have to do much. Just share your favorite tunes with the listeners. Hop on the mic every few songs to announce the song title if you’d like. Since we’re just getting started, I don’t expect much. I just want you on the air!
reminds me of an irc-connected system i wrote once… used some kind of audio casting (spatial audio and some winamp casting plugin)… but you could request/search/dedicate/query current status from the website or irc channel etc
this was ~1999
whats old is new again
FWIW, it’s cause I’ve been planning this exact concept since 2002 lol. Finally worked up the courage to make it happen. I remember the days of using Winamp and running the entire thing off your own PC. We’ve come quite a long way.
Speaking of which, there is a way to request tunes from the database when no DJ is connected. it’s kind of hidden, but if you scroll down to the bottom of the webpage, you’ll see a “send an Auto DJ request” link just below the live DJ request form.
i had these tied to company intranets, so running on big ol’ internal servers… employees could dedicated songs on the company radio, and the user would get an email letting them know their dedication was playing soon, etc.
its a lot more interactive/fun with IRC though
For now the current plans are to use Discord due to its robust bot support. But it wouldn’t be a bad idea to use something less-corporate like IRC. No promises yet.
theres nothing more amazingly connective that irc! its so mature, and the OG bot writing. i once wrote an IRC to AIM connector that let me sit on IRC on a a gen1 t-mobile sidekick
Well you’ll be the first person I contact to help set this up should I decide to migrate to IRC.
Cheers to whoever suggested Insomnia (Monster Mix) by Faithless - great taste! I was about to suggest it myself!
I love the initiative. This sort of thing feels REAL and I will absolutely submit some songs from my Playlist :)
I really like radiostations as well, not just for music, but the way people can talk over radio in a anonymous way (at least before caller id) . I don’t know if you watched the show Midnight Caller but it was one of my favorite ones growing up.
Get ready, I have ~250 songs, and too much free-time.
the comment is joking
both of those things are true, but I’m not going to add all of them as I’d rather spend my ludicrous free-time playing rimworld
I sent 10 jermacore tracks with the message ‘JERMA KILLED (song number) PEOPLE ON STREAM’
I have like 30 of these but I’ll only send 10 for now
Yeah I noticed
They’re on to my tomfoolery!
Fucking DO IT. I plan on spending all night adding your suggested tunes to the rotation!
Here’s the playlist if you want, but as I said, I’m not planning to do all of them myself.
note
The big chunk that is just jermacore was when I merged a playlist, I wasn’t just listening to only jerma for all that time.
I may be interested in being a dj/random song info guy. I’ll have to think about it for a few days, and see if I can make a regular appearance.
No problem. Take all the time you need to decide. No pressure.
The DJ will need a really smexy voice.
I haven’t heard smexy in so long lol
Would it be possible to get your station added to RadioGarden? It’s essentially a collection of radio stations which you can browse by spinning a globe where all the stations are geolocated. Having it on RadioGarden will make it much easier to listen to the station from a phone! They have a submission form under Settings > Submit a Radio Station, and here’s a direct link. I love the idea of unrestricted request radio stations, looking forward to requesting some favorites myself at some point! I myself listen to Rainwave every now and then which also streams 24/7 random music, though this one’s strictly videogame soundtracks :)
Saving this comment so I can look into it. Thanks for the suggestion. I’d like to get as many ears as I can!
